Take it From the Down Low
by Dreamsweep
Summary: Mercedes Jones may not always speak up in glee, but it doesn't mean she's not paying attention.
1. Chapter 1

_First story, I hope you like it. Take the time to leave a review if you like. Takes place starting around "Duets" and continues onward from there. - Sweep_

"We will be the undisputed, top bitches at this school."

The words resonated in her head as she shut her locker. Taking a look in the direction Santana just went, she saw the Cheerio wordlessly strutting down the hallway. She was right. No matter how much she talked about being the best or coming from Lima Heights, she wasn't lying in this part. "The Boy is Mine" last year was something. So was their backup vocals together for that song of Rachel's a couple weeks ago. And they could do it again. They were the best, and together, they could blow everyone, even Berry, out of the water.

Pulling out her cell phone, she quickly texted Tina: _Save __me __a __seat __at __lunch, __we __have __business __to __talk __about._

* * *

><p>"So what's the deal?" Tina asked as Mercedes slid into her seat, adjusting her bag to sit on the floor. Mercedes looked around the table at Mike, sitting beside Tina and chewing on his homemade Chinese. She gave him a little wave in greeting then turned back to Tina.<p>

"Where's Artie?" She began nibbling on her beefsteak.

"I dunno, probably sitting with Rachel. You know how that situation is." Tina motioned over to Mike, who was wordlessly and obliviously shoving sweet chicken in his mouth. "You know we don't talk."

Mercedes just shrugged. She wasn't happy about that whole break-up... especially since now it was _her _usually ending up being Artie's friend. She knew that her and Artie didn't sit at lunch together. She had just always assumed that he sat with Tina.

"Now what is this business?" Tina shoved her arm.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. It's about Santana." She laughed.

"Ooooh... did you catch her and Brittany? I always told you those two were-"

"No, it's not about Brittany." Mercedes stopped her immediately and gave her an odd look. "You know I don't believe that." Even if she _had_ asked to make out with Mercedes. Twice. "No, actually Santana wants to be my duet partner." She shrugged her shoulders sassily and gave Tina a big smile.

"Really? That's- I mean... Really?" Tina's stutter might have been coming back.

"Yeah, really. And, you know, I kinda agree with her. You remember 'The Boy is Mine' last year? Yeah, that times three for the duet because this time we'll actually practice together and not send mp3's over email and we'll completely kick ass." Mercedes nodded vigorously, stabbing her corn.

"Yeah, well good luck for you. I know you can deal with Satan." Tina chuckled, taking a drink. "I only wish that I could get my duet partner to actually, you know, sing."

Mercedes glanced over at Mike as Tina shoved him with his elbow. "Hey!" He exclaimed, dropping the rice he had on his fork. "Not nice!"

"Yeah, well I'd be nicer if we could actually _duet_."

"Uh, Tina, not this again!"

"Yes this again! Mike, I-"

Mercedes happily tuned them out, finishing her corn and finally gnawing on the heaven that is tater tots.

* * *

><p>"I'm in."<p>

Mercedes could practically hear Santana smiling through the phone. "Good. Now I was thinking of getting a little Winehouse up in here-"

"Uh, Santana? Who said you were picking the song?"

Santana paused, probably for dramatic effect, knowing the Latina. "You don't _remember_ last time? _I_ picked the song. _It_ was a success."

Mercedes rolled her eyes, laying back on her bed. "No, actually, you _emailed_ me the song, saying, 'We're singing this in glee club, biotch.'"

"And was it not a success?"

She huffed. "Only because _I_ was singing it."

"Whatever, Wheezy. Then what do you propose?"

"I was thinking Aretha, but I know you're not too down with that-"

"-Wheezy, please-"

"-So then I was browsing through my mother's old music and I found her old Tina Turner records."

"Keep talking."

Mercedes gave a cheeky smile, picking up the record from beside her. "There's a song on here called 'River Deep - Mountain High' that my mother absolutely raved about when I took it. Heard of it?"

"Yeah. Is that what you're proposing?"

"Precisely."

"I'll be over there in ten. You still live in the same house a few streets over, right?"

* * *

><p>Rehearsing was no problem with Santana, as it turns out. When they had finally agreed on the Tina Turner song and got together and <em>sang <em>_it_, it sounded amazing. Or as Santana had said, _mierda__ asombrosa_, which Mercedes just waived off as some Spanish swear that she got off the internet.

Their choreography wasn't bad either, surprisingly; Mercedes had assumed the cheerleader would easily take over and demand to make the routine, but instead she let the dark-skinned girl have the rights and only bother to change things when she wanted to shake her booty more.

It was a fairly win-win night, and Mercedes was almost positive things were going to work out and they would win when even her father came in and praised them.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

><p>"So, Wheezy, another rehearsal tonight at my place this time?" Santana had come over to where Mercedes was packing her bag after the math class had ended.<p>

She blinked, shoving the bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, I guess, though we really don't need it. You know we're perfect." She said, giving Santana a coy smile and flipping her hair back as she began to walk out.

"Yeah, you know you're right." She laughed and stepped out.

Mercedes thought nothing of it. They would get together, they would be perfect, and they would win the Breadstix dinner. That's it.

But as she began to walk down the hallway, she glanced back over to where Santana was, now seeing Brittany and... Artie? And... what?

She watched Brittany and her "non-verbal" language to Santana for only a moment, watching as the blonde walked off, and then herself walked around the corner. What... what was that? Weren't Santana and Brittany friends? Why was she with Artie? And why did she motion to her chest like that-?

And then it hit her.

Tina's words echoed in her head. _"__Ooooh... __did __you __catch __her __and __Brittany? __I __always __told __you __those __two __were-__"_

But she hadn't believed it, had she? Santana and Brittany couldn't really be _together_, could they? Or doing... stuff? They were just friends, cheerleaders. Maybe it was something...

There was something going on, definitely. That was the only conclusion Mercedes could come to. As she sat down for her Spanish class, giving a wave to Puck as he walked in, she could only think of how odd the whole thing was. It was only a few seconds - hell, she could have even imagined it - but it was definitely something between the two cheerleaders. And now Artie was involved.


	2. Chapter 2

_Well, I went ahead and posted what I have of the second chapter, because I figure it is hard to judge a story on one chapter! I'm still putting together the third, but the next few should zoom by anyway. Also thank you to my first reviewer! - Sweep_

* * *

><p>Their second and final rehearsal ended up making the whole thing ten times better overall. Especially with the help of Santana's sound system in her living room.<p>

"That's right, girl, sass it up!" Mercedes shouted at her, laughing as she gave Mercedes some of her own diva moves against her singing.

"Oh, you know." Santana said, putting her hands up and giving Mercedes the eyebrow.

The larger girl just giggled, collapsing on the couch behind her, exhausted.

"Break time sounds gooood." Santana said, grabbing her water and collapsing beside Mercedes.

She had shut her eyes for a moment resting her breath from moving around before she opened her eyes and trailed across the room, landing on a photo along the Lopez's large memory wall.

"Was this taken this summer?" Mercedes questioned, getting up and pointing to a picture of Santana and Brittany laying on a hammock in their bikinis, presumably at a beach somewhere. Seeing the picture and the smiles only enforced the questions in her mind: she had always wondered why Santana stayed so close to someone so air-headed, anyway.

"Oh, yeah." Santana breathed out between gulps. A slight smile came to her face for a moment before she creased her brow. "Britt came with me to Michigan when I went to see my cousin in college."

Mercedes just stood for a moment, studying the picture and the smiles on the girls' faces before looking back to the half-smirk imprinted on Santana's. "Wow, you two must really be good friends." She said, almost jealous, even of the close friendship from Brittany, but as Santana's smirk stayed the same, she knew not to be: there was certainly some predicament going on between the two.

"Oh, yeah." Santana repeated, slumping back on the couch. She wasn't helping her own case, in Mercedes' mind.

"What's up?" Mercedes asked casually, knowing not to come on too strong. She knew Santana, and a lot about her, but she still didn't know her all that well enough to predict the touchy subject of _Brittany_.

* * *

><p>The day that they were supposed to sing was a fleeting one. Mercedes was incredibly excited, as was Santana, and the excitement was bouncing off of them.<p>

"San? Why didn't you let me have any of your coffee this morning?"

Mercedes quit her giggling and looked over to where Brittany was now talking to Santana across the lab table, showing a blank expression as if the sudden stop in joking from Brittany changed the whole mood.

"What do you mean, Britt? I didn't have any coffee." Santana seemed hesitant to even answer the blonde.

"But you're so bouncy... I thought that-"

"I love you, too, Britt," Santana cut her off, giving her a quick smile and looking back over at Mercedes.

The bigger girl blinked for a second, unsure of how to react at first, then started in a fit of giggles all over again, hands on her face and trying to suppress the laughter.

Santana and Brittany might have something going on, or not, but Mercedes didn't mind, if anything, she felt included, and welcomed the closeness. Especially when they continued to laugh at _everything_ and made a huge distraction against the boring chemistry lab they were supposed to be doing.

She looked over at Santana, then Brittany, trying to piece together their friendship in her head.

But it was nothing to worry about. Glee came soon enough, and they were more than ready.

* * *

><p>As Mercedes clapped Santana's hand, she heard the whooping of the crowd in front of her and knew it was in the bag. None of the other glee club members could do what they could. They were unstoppable together, and nobody else was a match.<p>

Mercedes let Santana ride her winning tone and ego, and just stood there doing what she does best: looking good and being sassy. Mercedes knew she was the shit, even without Santana. And now they knew. They all knew. She almost told Mr. Schue to keep the damn dinner. She was stunning and showy. What more could she ask for?

And as she sat back down with Santana, the two girls were cocky and chatty, Mercedes in the lead with a big, "Now who wants to go up after that?" leaving the other kids speechless. Santana just laughed while Mercedes mumbled her, "Uh huh, I know, it's hard to even try to sing after the queen herself has sung." Artie started howling with his fake semi-ethnic praises and even Rachel and Finn joined in, fueling the crowd of complements as the two girls smiled and bragged.

Oh yeah, they had this.

* * *

><p>It wouldn't be until friday that Mr. Schuester would announce the winner, but Santana and Mercedes figured it would be them anyway, still riding off the high of Ike and Tina Turner. The next few days they just hung together as a unit, walking around and bathing in their own glory together.<p>

Mercedes did notice, though, that eventually the other kids got over them and their cockiness, (honestly, she could tell that at least Tina and Kurt were a bit annoyed) but she still hung around the Latina, partially aware that Santana was really using Mercedes as a back-up friend in her time of need. She had seen only once Brittany and Santana together, in chemistry, and even then the blonde moved to the other side of the room and Santana turned away from her, striking up a hushed conversation with Mercedes. It was odd, but it made sense somehow; she had seen they were fighting.

On the fourth day, the last day of duets, Santana's ego finally seemed to deflate a bit. Coincidental, or not, because this was the day that Rachel and Finn would perform.

"Hot damn, I can't believe there are more duets. Ours seemed like ages ago. And damn... Berry and puffy manboobs? They better suck. I'm hoping they do. Praying. I swear if I don't get to go to Breadstix..."

"Santana, Santana," Mercedes calmed her, patting her arm in chemistry. "You said it yourself, we were the best-"

"-then-"

"-And plus," Mercedes interrupted her, ignoring her remarks. "I think Quinn and Sam have to go, too. So it's not like Rachel can take up the whole period singing a 50-minute love ballad to Finn."

The Latina crossed her arms and breathed heavy. "I just hate thinking of losing to Berry because of whatever when everyone knows we are the _mierda_. God damn, why can't it just be tomorrow... at Breadstix... eating for free..."

* * *

><p>"I'm still pissed." Santana said, her arms across her chest.<p>

"Yeah, well I'm still paying. So get your ass over it. We didn't win."

The larger girl opened the menu, ignoring Santana as she sat there with her arms crossed. It wasn't like she wasn't going to eat. Screw Santana if she was going to pass up a free meal.

"I still cannot believe that Kurt did for a 'duet'..." Santana mused, as Mercedes quickly began giggling and sucking on her straw.

"I know, right? I didn't take him seriously hen he said that..."

"Nuh-uh. He told you what he was going to do? Girl..." Santana just shook her head with laughter for a moment. "I can't believe you ever thought that boy was straight. Talk about King Gay and his Gay Proclamation of Monochromatic Rainbow Gayness..."

The two girls cracked up laughing, disturbing the other customers once of many times. Mercedes just rolled her eyes at Santana, knowing that the other girl was being a bit hypocritical, but she just laughed and enjoyed her new friend, knowing that it might not last long. It's not typical for Santana to latch onto anyone, Mercedes thought from her own experiences in the Cheerios. Well, except Brittany, of course.

"See? The competition wasn't all that bad." Santana rolled her eyes.

"Fine, you can say what you want." She said grumpily, picking up the menu. "Even if Kurt was hilarious with his vocal masturbation."

Mercedes shrugged. She did support him, but sometimes, Kurt was a bit too eccentric.

"But I'm still mad that newboy and tubbers got it. I mean really. Who the hell..."

Mercedes breathed out. Unless she said something, this would be the whole tangent the entire night. "I really think that the whole voting process was a bit rigged anyway." She said casually, figuring that the extra votes for the blonde duo were probably from Rachel's side. The girl was insane, but she wasn't that disrespectful to actually sing such a song in religious garments without a reason. At least, Mercedes thought she wasn't. And if her logic (and partial help from Kurt) was correct, she was probably doing something to push the two blondes to win, for some reason.

"Uh. Mr. Schue is such a blockhead." Santana threw the menu down. "But still.. I mean Barbie and Ken? Ugh. He is so typical. And Quinn is so over her popularity streak. Why now? I thought glee was supposed to be about showcasing talents, and good people, and you know, minorities."

Mercedes raised an eyebrow. She giggled at the minority part. "Is that what you really think?" Was Santana really playing that card again? "Because, I mean, I really don't think that Sam is that bad..."

Santana squinted her eyes at her, pausing as she brought the straw of her iced tea to her mouth. It was an odd look, one that Mercedes wasn't so sure she liked from the Latina.

"Hey... _espera __un __segundo._.."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. The girl really needed to lay off the telemundo.

"You like him, don't you?"

Mercedes eyes went wide for a second until her brain started working again. How did Santana...? Her own eyebrows went up and she could have slapped that smirk right off of her face. "What? No."

"Yeah you do. I saw you watching him." Santana was quick to respond.

Mercedes just raised her eyebrow. "Okay, you want the mess slapped out of you now or later?"

"It's okay, I won't tell..."

"I am seriously not paying for your dinner anymore, Santana." Mercedes said, breaking eye contact.

"Uh huh, I see how it's played."

"Fourteen dollars and ninety five cents worth of pasta is now your problem."

"Uh huh," Mercedes' eyes leveled as she watched Santana just play with her straw.

"I don't like him." Sam was cute, but really.

"Sure..."

"I am not going to have our nice dinner go like this." She hadn't even thought of it, considered it. How did Santana get that vibe?

"Fine,"

"Fine." If anything, she wanted no boys in her life right now.

"So how about Puck?"

Especially glee boys.


End file.
